Arnold pays tribute to Holocaust victims

May 03, 2004

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger paid tribute Sunday to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust and helped dedicate a planned museum of tolerance during a whirlwind visit to Jerusalem.

"We look past the suicide bombers, the terrorists, past the blood. ... We look ahead to the time people can live side by side."

Schwarzenegger's speech came just minutes after Palestinian gunmen ambushed and killed a pregnant Jewish settler and her four young daughters as they were driving from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Two Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for Israel's recent assassinations of two top Hamas leaders.

Schwarzenegger, wearing a yarmulke, later laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, a ceremony in which he rekindled the memorial's symbolic eternal flame.

Though Schwarzenegger's father was a member of the Nazi party, the actor-turned-politician has always sought to distance himself from that part of his Austrian background.

He was cheered at every stop in his busy day, whether by office workers in government buildings or the crowd at the museum ceremony.

"We've got a lot of stars in Hollywood, but nobody measures up to that," said Jonathan Stern, a sergeant in the Israeli army, who took leave to catch a glimpse of the governor. "People love him. He's the best. The Terminator."